


Faces/Places

by theorangewitch



Series: Angstober [13]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Insecurity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16319354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theorangewitch/pseuds/theorangewitch
Summary: “I’m trying to write a letter to the Temple,” Eberle sighed, chewing on the end of her pen. “But I don’t know what to say.”“Lemme see,” Faye said, snatching the letter from Eberle’s hands. “I think I can help. Here’s what you should write: Dear Mom, I am still with the circus. I move boxes for them. Everyone here is really cool and fun. I have a super hot girlfriend named Faye and she’s awesome and wonderful. Love, Eberle.”





	Faces/Places

**Author's Note:**

> Day 16 - Insecurity. This one is much softer than the previous days. A nice respite, I think. Eberle is a tiefling paladin, Faye is an aasimar rogue. They're both my most blatantly self-inserty D&D characters, Eberle especially.

Eberle was lying on her stomach on Faye’s bed when Faye walked in. Faye had been celebrating another successful show with the other performers. She always did this, often late into the night. Eberle didn’t mind it, most evenings. The Circus of Embers was a loud and colorful place, and Faye’s evening outings gave her a chance to be alone and decompress after the overstimulation a day with the circus brought. She’d spent this evening penning another letter home, but she was getting nowhere. This was the fifth piece of paper she’d had to crumple up. She tossed it over her shoulder, almost hitting Faye in the face as the door open.

“Woah there,” Faye said, expertly dodging the paper as it flew through the air and out into the summer night. “Careful.”

“Sorry,” Eberle replied, not looking up. She’d already pulled out another piece of paper and began to scribble down another  _ Dear Mother Matheson, Brothers Matias and Altaïr, and Sister Riva… _

“What’re you doing?” Faye asked, coming over and laying down next to Eberle on the bed. “You’re wasting all my paper.”

“I’m trying to write a letter to the Temple,” Eberle sighed, chewing on the end of her pen. “But I don’t know what to say.”

“Lemme see,” Faye said, snatching the letter from Eberle’s hands. “I think I can help. Here’s what you should write: Dear Mom, I am still with the circus. I move boxes for them. Everyone here is really cool and fun. I have a super hot girlfriend named Faye and she’s awesome and wonderful. Love, Eberle.”

“Stop,” Eberle said, snatching the letter back. “Mother Matheson isn’t my  _ mom _ , she’s the Mother of the temple. Besides, I think they’re expecting something more in-depth than that.”

“That’s the most in-depth thing I’ve ever written,” Faye said indignantly.

“I actually believe that.” Eberle sighed again, rolling over on her back. “I wanna write about all of the fun I’m having, but I wanna write about the bad stuff too.”

“There’s bad stuff?” 

Eberle was surprised by the surprise in Faye’s tone of voice. And the hurt. “Not  _ you _ , obviously. You’re amazing. It’s just that. I dunno. I don’t think I really fit in here.”

“Of course you don’t,” Faye said. “That’s the point of the circus. We’re all misfits.”

“But I’m  _ not  _ a misfit. At least, not in the same way you and the others are. I’m not  _ weird _ . I don’t have any crazy talents or purple skin. I can’t fly or shoot one arrow through another. I’m just. Nice. And that’s it.”

“Nice is good,” Faye encouraged. “There are too many assholes in the world. And I’m including myself in that. People  _ like  _ you here, Eberle. You’re a breath of fresh air. All we really know is one another, and we get so wrapped up in one another’s craziness that we forget that the world outside of here exists.”

But that didn’t make Eberle feel any better. “I’m tired of being liked. I want to be respected. I want to be  _ wanted _ . I want to be marveled at.”

“ _ I _ want you, Eberle,” Faye said, snuggling her nose into the nape of Eberle’s neck. Faye smelled like incense, and her skin was smooth and soft. “And for what it’s worth, being marveled at isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s one thing to amaze people with feats of acrobatics, but it’s another for people to never see you as you truly are. I ran away from home because my parents insisted on only seeing me as an angel, as this divine favor given to them. They never saw me as their daughter. I joined the circus because I could be myself around the other performers, and I could save the performance for when I was in the ring.”

Eberle turned so that she was nose-to-nose with Faye. “This sucks. I was so bored before I left; I was raring to go. And now I’m homesick. I keep wondering if there’s a place for me in the world.”

“Everyone wonders that,” Faye said, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Do you know how many times I considered running all the way back home after I came here? You’ll get comfortable eventually. And there will always be a place here for you, whether you want it or not.”


End file.
